Horses and cars for courses at Kingsbarn

ONE OF Scotland's top Young Riders, Ayrshire's Greg Taylor, prepares for a feature classes at the Kingsbarn Elite Show ' the HONDA Ride and Drive Road Runner Championship ' kindly sponsored by Perth HONDA, The Triangle, Dunkeld Road, Perth

Published:01:00Wednesday 26 October 2011

SHOWJUMPERS are competing for a £20,000 prize pot in Shieldhill next week.

And not only will riders be on horses - they’ll be driving cars around the courses too.

A new class on the Kingsbarn schedule, on Friday night (October 28) - The Honda Ride and Drive Road Runner Championship includes 12 big show jumps followed by a lap of the arena in a special Honda car.

The novelty factor of that race is offset by the serious equestrian business of the ‘Elite Show’.

The event is the only Scottish route to the 2012 Championship final, at the Charles Stanley British Masters three star international show.

That is on Sunday morning’s (October 30) Winter Amateur Qualifier and three horse and rider combinations progress to the big show.

Before then, the ‘Kingsbarn Grand Prix’ main event is on Saturday night with a £2000 top prize among a kitty of more than £6000 for the category.

Hannigan hotels and Perth Honda are sponsoring the four day event which includes classes from British novice 90cm to Grand Prix 1.45m.

Other evening entertainment including sumo wrestling competitions and pole fitness will also be on offer.

n AS a prelude to Kingsbarn’s Elite Show, Olympic rider Tim Stockdale is hosting a masterclass on Wednesday evening. It begins at 6 p.m. For more information visit www.kingsbarnequestrian.co.uk